Latest Santana album superb

Carlos Santana performs at the Seminole Hotel and Casinos Hard Rock Live on May 2, 2014 in Hollywood, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Daly/Invision/AP)Invision

Santana, "Coraz贸n" ***1/2

Carlos Santana has made raging, Latin-tinged psychedelia since his band's 1969 eponymous debut and 1970s hits such as "Oye Como Va" and "Black Magic Woman." But the Mexican native has seldom embraced such a fully Latino-based album as he does here, in the superb "Coraz贸n." Like 1999's "Supernatural," the new album matches Santana's nimble fingerings, fiery rhythms and incendiary solos with the work of notable vocalists. Unlike that former effort, "Coraz贸n" isn't vanilla. Instead, it brings in some big names in Latin music -- Miguel, Romeo Santos and others -- to push Santana to flavorful new heights. Or old heights, because the guitarist hasn't sounded this gutsy, frenetic or mean since 1987's "Blues for Salvador."

Is this the breakup album -- the residue of frontman Chris Martin's "conscious uncoupling" with Gwyneth Paltrow? How could you possibly tell? Coldplay's music always sounds so forlorn. Actually, with a few dreamy, layered exceptions ("Always in My Head," "Midnight," the final 80 seconds of "Oceans"), this is a more melodic, less atmospheric album than the group's previous two Brian Eno-produced efforts. But even when there is a pulse to Coldplay's music, as on "Magic," it sounds stately. So much so that the kick drum thrust Timbaland adds to "True Love" seems extraneous, almost obtrusive. The beauty of Coldplay's music is that of a pressed flower.

-- David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

Sharon Van Etten, "Are We There" *** 1/2

Sharon Van Etten sings simple love songs that are anything but simple. On her fourth and best album, the North Jersey native songwriter teams with veteran producer Stewart Lerman and collaborates with a cast of musical helpmates that includes Dave Hartley and Adam Granduciel of Philadelphia band the War On Drugs to craft a set of 11 wounded, openhearted songs that soar with heightened emotional intensity. Van Etten's voice sweeps you up in its richly luxurious tone, and here she varies and refines her approach. The quietly hypnotic "Our Love" sneaks in lyrics like "I'm reliving my own hell." The majestically wounded "Your Love is Killing Me" is enacted on a mythic plane akin to epic heartbreak songs such as Lucinda Williams' "I Changed the Locks." And the supervulnerable "You Know Me Well" and "Break Me" make the search for "your own true self" seem an operatic matter of life and death.